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Orange Is the New Black 1×05 “The Chickening” Recap

In Which Chapman and Co. Chase a Chicken Around a Yard for a Good Portion of the Episode.

Chapman and Larry

Chapman is out in the yard reading a book when she spots a wild chicken. When she tells the others about it, their reaction is very strange. Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) tells her that she needs to go talk to Red (Kate Mulgrew).

They tell Chapman the story of the feral chicken that lives near the prison, and Red, elated at the thought of fresh meat, announces that the first woman to bring her that bird will get a prize.

Later, Polly (Maria Dizzia) and Larry (Jason Biggs) visit Chapman in prison. Polly tells Chapman that their business might be going through a few hiccups. Chapman convinces Polly to organize a conference call between Chapman and their prospective buyer. Larry also discovers that Chapman had lied – through omission – about her ex-girlfriend, Vause (Laura Prepon) being in prison with her.

Back home, Larry and his parents have tea together, and Larry’s dad confirms that Vause indeed was the one to turn Chapman in. However, he tells Larry not to tell Chapman because she doesn’t need enemies in prison. Larry refuses to at first, but when he realizes how angry Chapman is over Vause, he lies and tells her that Vause didn’t do it to keep his fiancee from doing anything stupid.

In the end, Chapman decides to forego her conference call with the prospective buyer so she can chase down the chicken, which ends up on the other side of the fence anyways. Great life decision, Chapman.

Burset

Burset (Laverne Cox) might have found a solution to her problem: Big Boo tells her about an elderly lady she knows who gets estrogen pills for her hot flashes, and suggests that Burset bargain for some with her. Burset tracks the woman down to the church, where she makes nice.

Unfortunately, this ends up making Burset an accidental witness to some other inmates’ fuck ups; a woman named Tucky was so hellbent on getting her giant art installation of a cross up that she pulled down the entire church ceiling.

The guards end up forcing the women to fix the ceiling, but Tucky protests, saying that she doesn’t want Burset in the church, because “the whole thing was Burset’s fault, god doesn’t want an abomination under his roof.” Girl, shut the fuck up.

Burset continues to make friends with the woman with the estrogen pills. The woman tells Burset that she isn’t getting her estrogen pills, and that any unhappiness she feels right now is less to do with her body and more to do with leaving her wife and kid behind when she went to jail.

Daya’s Flashbacks

Daya (Dascha Polanco) remembers babysitting her siblings as her mom, Aleida (Elizabeth Rodriguez) goes out on dates. In another flashback we find out that Daya’s mother used to be involved in a drug ring.

The final flashback involving Daya shows her and her siblings visiting their mother in prison, where Aleida states that she took the fall for her drug dealing boyfriend. Aleida doesn’t seem to care at all that her kids are there, and just complains about her boyfriend not visiting her. Daya is visibly annoyed and disappointed, and when she gets back home, she has sex with her mom’s boyfriend for revenge.

Daya in Present Day

Daya and Bennett (Matt McGorry) are still carrying on, passing notes back and forth like lovelorn schoolchildren. Daya tries to get in good with her mom again, and keeps score for the women in her bunk (including her mom and sister) when they play dominoes.

They begin to gossip about Red and the chicken legend. A few of them decide to look for the chicken as well, under the belief that there might be expensive drugs inside the chicken. When Daya and her mother are alone, Aleida warns her that it might not be a great idea to carry on with a guard, especially when she might catch feelings.

Later, Bennett gets a note to meet Daya in the utility room, but when he gets there he finds a naked Aleida propositioning him.

Vause

Vause opens up during an AA meeting, where she tells everyone that she started using drugs after a bad breakup – implying that the bad breakup was Chapman’s fault. Chapman is furious, and stalks out in the middle of her yoga session.